North Shore Health recognized as top 20 critical access hospital
North Shore Health was recognized for the third consecutive year by the National Rural Health Association for being in the top 20 in Best Practice in Patient Satisfaction. The award is determined by a consulting group called Chartis, which gathers data and scores hospitals on the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX™.
North Shore Health CEO Kimber Wraalstad announced the achievement during the May board meeting.
“I think our patients are generally pleased with the services that are provided to them,” Wraalstad told WTIP. “It says that, you know, our nursing staff does a great job. Our physicians do a great job. Our housekeeping staff does a great job.”
Board Transparency
The award comes as North Shore Health discusses a series of initiatives and challenges around transparency.
A procedural vote failed at the start of the board meeting regarding the entering of the minutes. Board member Sam Usem was the lone vote against the procedure.
“I voted ‘nay’ because we’ve approved minutes in the past with the promise they’d be amended, and that follow-up hasn’t happened. This time, we were once again asked to approve minutes with changes still pending. I couldn’t, in good conscience, vote to approve the. This isn’t about disagreement; it’s about accountability. Our public record needs to be accurate because that’s how we maintain trust, with each other and with the community,” Usem told WTIP.
The change in question pertained to comments made by board member Milan Schmidt during a February board meeting. Schmidt had asked for a comment attributed to him in the minutes to be amended. The update had not been posted to the hospital website as of the board meeting.
“In the past, any corrections that have been made to the board minutes themselves have actually been made in the next month’s board meeting, identified in the meetings where the [previous] meeting minutes were reviewed,” Wraalstad told WTIP. “[The board] wanted that process changed. So we have changed the process. So the board minutes that were originally drafted and reviewed in the board packet are on the website as well as the modified or the approved version, and that one was printed and signed, and it just hadn’t been posted on the website yet, and I believe it’s posted now.”
“Sam made a request that a summary of public comments be included in future board meeting minutes,” Board Chair Randy Wiitala told WTIP, regarding the vote. “However, there was no motion or vote on this request. We explored this option. We got advice from our legal counsel and some other sources, and we concluded that interpretation of someone else’s comments in the board minutes would be inappropriate.”
Wiitala suggested that the public can submit their comments in writing to ensure they are part of the public record. This would allow people who can’t attend meetings to read public comments and be informed about what was said.
Another solution would be to implement public recordings of the meetings. A topic that has been discussed since the beginning of the year. However, the committee for that initiative failed to meet before the May board meeting.
“We had some additional information that we collected, and we also received some information from our legal counsel and also our insurer. So that took some time to get there, and it was quite a bit of information to go through, so we just, you know, flat out, didn’t get to it,” Wiitala told WTIP. “This is a deliberative process, and there’s, there’s a lot of opportunity to get it right and to get it wrong, and we want to make sure, whichever way it goes, that we get it right.”
The hospital’s legal counsel and insurer provided a list of risks for the board to consider, but Schmidt advised the board that it was also important to consider the positive aspects.
Budgets and People
With the state legislature adjourned, North Shore Health remains uncertain about budgetary cuts and its proposed Swing Bed Legislation.
The nursing home stands to be impacted the most by budget cuts. Senior services and Medicaid could both be affected. Medicaid covers 75%-80% of North Shore Health nursing home residents.
Mandates for the hospital would also exacerbate the cuts to reimbursement. Increasing expenses while reducing income.
“You can’t give us an unfunded mandate, and then cut our reimbursement, and then hope that all is well,” Wraalstad told WTIP.
The hospital’s Swing Bed Legislation, authored by State Senator Grant Hauschild, is currently part of omnibus bills in both the House and the Senate. Wraalstad hopes that the legislation would help offset some of the budgetary cuts.
Wraalstad had previously said she hoped legislators would keep in mind the impact their cuts would have on people. As the legislative session closed, she did not feel they had done that.
“I don’t think anybody’s had a conversation about people,” Wraalstad said. “You’re putting the organizations that are already at risk, that are already losing money, at greater risk, and because we are going to take care of people. Because they are at the top of our minds, and that’s what we need to do. And I wish that others would at least contemplate what the impact on people is going to be if they make these decisions.”
WTIP spoke with North Shore Health CEO Kimber Wraalstad and Board Chair Randy Wiitala regarding the May board meeting. The audio of that conversation can be found below.
Josh Hinke May 30, 2025
